1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to public advertising and announcement systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for delivering advertisements and announcements to the public in a targeted and interactive manner.
2. Description of the Background Art
Print advertising and other printed public announcements are usually delivered to the public using static advertising devices, such as billboards, posters, newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers and handouts, or non-static advertising devices, such as television, radio and video tape. It has been found, however, that static advertising devices are not very effective at attracting public attention, and non-static advertising devices, which are better at attracting public attention because they move, blink, talk or change, are often too expensive and rarely achieve the significant results advertisers desire. Both kinds of advertising devices usually require a very large number of placements in order to produce only a few new sales leads.
One explanation for the limited success of advertising and announcements delivered to the public through conventional advertising devices is that such advertisements and announcements tend to be extremely generic, playing to the lowest common denominator among large and diverse groups of potential customers. They are not targeted to reach specific audiences, groups or individuals. The content of these ads and announcements must be very generic because the devices through which they are delivered have no way of identifying specific members of the audience and no way of detecting, retrieving or utilizing personal information about members of the audience in order to automatically provide more interesting, non-generic ads and announcements. As a result, these ads and announcements are far less likely to make a meaningful impression on any particular individual or group of individuals exposed to them.
Another explanation for the limited success of conventional advertising devices lies in the fact that they do not provide interactive engagement and instant feedback. It has been found, for example, that the longer it takes a potential customer to go through the psychological phases of making a purchase decision (awareness, self-education, validation and commitment, for instance), the lower the likelihood that the customer will actually purchase the advertised goods or services. Static and one-way advertising and announcement systems may make the customer aware of the goods or services being advertised, but they typically do not take questions or respond to instructions or commands from the audience. Without the ability to ask questions or give instructions, potential customers cannot use the advertising device to educate themselves about the specific features of the goods and services being advertised or announced, and they cannot obtain enough information to validate an idea or belief that the goods or services will satisfy a particular need or desire. Most importantly, the customer cannot use the advertising device to make a purchase.
Accordingly, there is a need for a public advertising and announcement device that has the ability to identify specific individuals or groups of individuals who come into contact with the device, the ability to collect, gather and use personal information about those individuals or groups to select and present more interesting, targeted ads and announcements, and the ability to respond to questions, commands and instructions submitted by those individuals and groups.
With these and other needs in mind, the present invention overcomes the shortcomings of conventional systems by providing systems and methods for delivering public ads and announcements in an interactive format. The invention displays ads and announcements to the public, gathers personal information about the audience from the audience or from databases in order to provide ads and announcements that are specifically targeted to the audience, and responds to questions and commands provided by the audience. The invention engages potential customers in a two-way interactive communication session about products and services particularly interesting or relevant to the customers, and provides instant feedback so that the customer is more likely to make a favorable purchase or participation decision, preferably on the spot.
In general, the invention comprises (i) a Group Display Device, (ii) a Distributed Storage Array comprising at least one Storage Device, and (iii) a Distributed Processor Array coupled to the Distributed Storage Array. The Group Display Device comprises an Input Device. The Distributed Processor Array comprises at least one Processor. The Distributed Storage Array stores a Program for controlling the Distributed Processor Array. The Distributed Processor Array is operative with the Program to generate at least one Interactive Poster on the Group Display Device and to configure the Interactive Poster responsive to the Input Device.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method for presenting announcements to a user, is provided. The method comprises the steps of: (1) providing a Group Display Device, a Customer Identification Device, a first memory storage area containing a plurality of media elements, and a second memory storage area containing personal information about the user; and (2) displaying on the Group Display Device a subset of the plurality of media elements in response to the user activating the Customer Identification Device. The subset of the plurality of media elements displayed on the Group Display Device is determined by reference to the personal information. In this embodiment, as well as other embodiments of the present invention, the Customer Identification Device may comprise, for example, a magnetic stripe reader, a card, key fob, lapel pin, ring, bracelet, or other small device having a transponder or readable computer chip, a remote identification sensing device, a crowd evaluation device or a Customer Biometrics Sensing Device. The Customer Identification Device also may comprise, in some embodiments, a combination of one or more of these devices.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention also comprises an Input Device, such as a mouse, keyboard, a touch-sensitive surface or screen, a button or a microphone, configured to accept input and commands from the user. When such an Input Device is present, the system may be configured so that the subset of the plurality of media elements displayed on the Group Display device is responsive to this Input Device.
It is a feature of the present invention that it provides a method of presenting ads and announcements in an interactive format.
It is another feature of the invention that it can identify users, can gather personal information about users (directly from the users or from customer information databases), and can use the information to select and display personalized and targeted ads and announcements.
It is yet another feature of the invention that it can respond to questions and commands supplied by a user.
An advantage to using the present invention is that ads and announcements may be tailored to address the specific needs, interests and desires of specific individuals and specific groups of individuals, thereby making the ads and announcements much more effective at attracting public attention and increasing patronage.
Additional features and advantages of the invention are set forth in part in the description which follows, and are in part obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may also be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly set out in the appended claims.